Revival of the Soul
by Dark Wyvern
Summary: (yaoi) (was Bloodied Hands) Having fallen to Gannondorf's sword, Link awaits death, but gets far more than he bargained for in return
1. Prelude

A/N: This is a yaoi!  If you don't like Link being with Gannondorf (with hints of a previous relationship with Sheik), don't read!  This is the fic I'm going to eventually base a doujinshi around.  I'm writing in bits and pieces as thoughts come to me, so I'll post sporadically.  Enjoy!

Also, I am desperately looking for a beta, as my other beta is not happy with my yaoi fanaticism.  

Please be kind.  I had given up writing completely for maybe eight months.  I'm just now getting back in the groove.  So if things don't flow well, that's why.

If Link acts OOC, just remember that in my universe he has very, very low self esteem.

***

_Way away away from here I'll be_

_Way away away so you can see_

_How it feels to be alone and not believe_

_How it feels to be alone and not believe anything_

Yellowcard, _Way Away_

***

Link let out a soft sigh of painful reminisce.  The Temple of Time…  So much of his life had taken place here.  He had been sealed away from the world, seven years of his life taken from him because of the sword he now held.  He had met his beloved Sheik here, the man who had given his life for the Hero of Time.

There was a soft noise behind him, the gentle tap of soft boots.  "Who goes there?" he asked without turning around, his grip on the hilt of the Master Sword still loose.  Without giving the person a chance to answer, he turned around, turned to meet the man whose death he had caused in the bloodied chamber of Volvagia.

"Oh my God!" he cried, his blade clattering onto the floor.  "Sheik, I thought—how could—!  …Oh."  The initial joy he had felt had frozen over once again.  He turned to pick up his sword, saying, his voice seething in rage: "It's you, Zelda.  Why do you masquerade as Sheik?  He died years ago."

Zelda walked forward, pulling the strips of cloth from her face.  "Good to see you too, Link.  Glad to know you still care."

"You killed my boyfriend in cold blood.  Of course I hate you.  I'm surprised you even care to meet me anymore, knowing I would have killed you then if you hadn't fled from me."

"I came to remind you of your destiny," she said coldly, walking to stand next to him.  She tried to lay her hand on his shoulder and was rudely pushed away.

"I know my destiny," he answered angrily.  "It caused the death of the man I loved more dearly than anything in the world, and my most beloved friend is sealed in another dimension now.  I look at my destiny each minute of each day, and I cringe before it."

"If you kill Gannondorf, you will be free of your destiny," Zelda said softly.

"I won't!" he snapped, turning around to strike her.  She jumped back, and that was the only reason he did not slap her.  "I will know until the end of my days that I have bloodied my hands with human blood and caused the death of my own lover!  I will know that if I had not listened to you, none of this would have happened to Hyrule!  I will know that it is all my fault that Sheik died beneath Volvagia's claws, and that Dark Link died with your arrow in his back because I wanted to fulfill my destiny!  I will know!  And there will never be any escape for me!"

He shoved Zelda aside, knocking her down, and stormed to the door.  She leapt up and trialed after him, her face burning with anger.  "So is this how it will be?  Will you show your cowardice now, when Gannondorf will finally fall before you?  Will you flee when Hyrule's future rests on your shoulders?  Will you—"

This time Link actually did slap her, backhanding her so hard she fell to the floor again.  "You got me into this and now you preach to me about cowardice!" Link cried.  "If you wish a good look at cowardice I will give you a mirror.  You use me as a shield while you pretend you have everything under control.  Do not talk to me about cowardice ever again!  I will defeat Gannondorf this day, do not doubt it; but if I ever see you again, you also shall fall beneath my sword."

With a final disgusted glare, he stormed from the Temple.  Behind him, Zelda's sobs cut harshly through the shrieking air.  He was not sorry that he had promised to kill her, but he was truly sorry that all of this had happened.

Only one thought kept him from letting her misery hurt him: the memory of Gannondorf riding, his long hair flowing behind him in the winds, his lips twisted in a smile.

_And that, Link thought softly, miserably, _is the man I love, the man I will have to kill.__


	2. Introspection

A/N: I am still looking for a beta.  Unfortunately, without one I may not be able to post fics that are as flawless as I would like them.  Please, if anyone is good with grammar and willing to read flagrant, PG-13 rated yaoi, please give me an email.  (towerofmagic@hotmail.com)

I have totally forgotten the layout of Gannondorf's castle, so don't yell at me if something about it is wrong.  

***

_Carry on my wayward son_

_There will be peace when you are gone_

_Lay your wearied head to rest_

_Don't you cry no more_

Kansas, _Carry On_

***

The wind shrieked around the destroyed vale that had once housed the castle of the Hylian rulers.  Like the talons of a mythical harpy, the wind cut through Link's tunic, stripping from him any warmth he might have had.  He shivered once and walked toward the Dark Lord's castle.

Who, he wondered, had destroyed this once-fertile and beautiful vale?  Who dug into a vein of molten rock below the earth's surface to create this lake of fire?  Who had created a castle capable of staying aloft like a misshapen bird?  Would Gannondorf trouble himself with such things?

He walked slowly cliff's edge, and watched as a few dislodged pebbles dropped into the seething magma.  For the moment, he was too lost in introspection to wonder how he would get across.

_So this is my fate, he though sadly, looking up to the uppermost windows of the black tower.  _To kill the man I love in order to win the heart of the woman I despise.  I am… so low and weak, to allow this to happen.  I have failed my heart and sold my soul to my sword.  Why would King Gannondorf care for so loathsome a man as I?  What am I to someone so grand as him?__

_Do I fight for my homeland?  Do I fight for my friends?  Do I fight for my dead love?  Or, worst of all, do I fight because I have nothing else?_

Beyond him, a bridge was being spun from raw magic.  He watched in apathy as it was created; it shone against the backdrop of black and red, the only color in the bleak tapestry of death.  He loathed it, loathed it for enabling him to challenge the Gerudo King, loathed it for its color and its meaningful existence.

The way fulfill his destiny had been opened.

Gannondorf, meanwhile, stood on the highest balcony of his tower, laughing into the wind.  He had watched Link avidly, as he had watched the Hero's talk with Zelda through the eyes of his pets.  His heart had ached for the pain of the beautiful Hero of Time, a familiar ache he had learned to accept.  For was he not in love?

His oldest sister, Naboruu, stepped out of his chamber and onto the balcony with him, her hair whipping in the wind.  "I don't know about that bridge, brother," she said, gesturing at the newly created object.  "It's bright and shiny and… rainbow…  It's a bit gay…"

"Well, I'm a bit gay," he retorted, laughing.  "Do you keep forgetting?"

"What will people think?"

"I don't care what people think!  I don't care what these Hylian bastards think of me.  Except… for him…"

He leaned against the balcony railing, sighing as he watched Link walk across the bridge.  Naboruu had a brief but amusing image of a teenaged girl longing to be acknowledged by a handsome young man.

"Big brother's got a cruu-uush…" Naboruu taunted, poking him with her index finger.

"I do," he answered, not at all annoyed.  "I want him so badly.  I want to heal him, to stop the pain fate has forced upon him."

"That's very high and noble, but what if he doesn't love you?  Will you force your love upon him?"

"I would never rape him, if that's what you're asking," he said, frowning at her.  "Even if that thought had crossed my mind, after what happened to Danäte…"

"I didn't mean that," Naboruu said apologetically.  "I know you wouldn't.  But what if he doesn't love you?  Will you kill him, as he would do to you?"

"Either way, I will deal with it when the time comes."  He turned and opened the door for her.  "He will be here soon.  The pitiable man…  Zelda's beloved slave, here for my head.  Through his efforts, Hyrule shall be purged of darkness and he may marry his darling Princess.  I wonder, would he be happy with her?  Would he love her?"

"I wouldn't know," Naboruu said.

Gannondorf continued as if he had not heard her.  "How many nights has he cried himself to sleep, mourning for all that have died on his sword and in his stead?  Could I ever possibly lift the curse he has placed upon himself, to make him see life as I see it?  Could I ever show him that life does not have to be a burden?"

"Well," Naboruu said softly, "I suppose you shall have the answers to your questions very soon."

Link recoiled in pain as the laser of a Beamos cut through his tunic, slicing into his shoulder and cauterizing the wound almost immediately.  Screaming in anger, he threw a bomb at the monster with his other arm, jumping back to avoid another laser.

The bomb exploded, sending bits of shrapnel in all directions.  Link held his hand up to his face, wincing slightly as the shards of metal cut into his elbow and forearm.  With the assurance that the creature was destroyed, he reached up above where it had been and plucked a silver five-rupee piece from the air, snapping the thread that had attached it to the ceiling.

With a few notes, a door on the opposite end of the room opened.  For the moment, Link did not go through it; he slumped down against the wall and took off his gauntlet, plucking metal shards from the leather, then from his skin.  His once-white bodysuit had been stained crimson from his blood.  It saddened him to think that he would barely be alive right now if it were not for the faeries and potions he kept with him.  And Gannondorf was supposed to fall because of him?  The concept was laughable.

Still angered at his weakness, he took the last of his potions and poured part of it over the deep wound in his shoulder.  As the skin began mending itself, he sucked in air through his teeth to ward off the stinging pain it caused.  When it had closed over with little more than a scab, he drank the remainder of the potion.

His one consolation was that this was the last section of the castle he would have to conquer before Gannondorf's deplorable barrier was destroyed.  He opened the door leading out of the room, slipping on his gauntlet as he did so.

He was once again in a small room whose far wall plated with obsidian, a bulbous, tumor-like growth of orange magic hanging from the ceiling.  He fired a light arrow into the loathsome pod—it seemed to him that if left long enough, the magic would give birth to a magnitude of repulsive insects—and was greeted by the Sage of Light.  He barely heard as Rauru urged him onward, trying to encourage him.

Once again he found himself warped to the main chamber of the castle.  When he looked up, he saw the thread of magic attaching Rauru's chamber to Gannondorf's barrier begin to melt away.  With it gone, there was nothing left to hold the barrier; the entire castle seemed to shake as the black magic of the barrier was melted and destroyed.

At last, the shaking stopped, and the central column of Ganon's Tower was exposed.  With a deep sigh, he turned toward the tower's mouth.

He did not seem to notice the sleek black rat that had been watching him since he came into the castle.  It shook itself once, dislodging a bit of dust that had settled into its fur during the barrier's destruction, and skittered away towards Gannondorf's throne room.


	3. Final Battle

A/N: I totally fabricated Link's last name, of course.

***

_'Cause I'm broken   
I know I need you now  
'Cause deep inside I'm broken   
You see the way I live_

12 Stones, _Broken_  
***

There were secret catacombs in the walls of Gannondorf's castle, one no human ever truly understood.  Gannondorf has watched its creation with interest, allowing the slender passageways to be built.  These tunnels housed the castle's rats—sleek, beautiful creatures as intelligent as humans, altered to be bigger and stronger by the magic that supported the castle's walls.  Considered vermin and eradicated by the last king, they flourished under Gannondorf's reign; in exchange for any scraps they could take from the kitchens and the promise that they would not be poisoned, they lent him their eyes and ears.  Because their tunnels went everywhere, into every room, this proved to be of great use to Gannondorf indeed.

Though they had no true leader and acted as a clan more than a kingdom, they mostly came to one female rat when individuals could not decide a proper course of action.  This rat, one of the few black rats of the castle, had been sent to watch Link's passage through the castle—she was deemed most trustworthy.

Now, she ran through the catacombs, emerging from the tunnels in Gannondorf's throne room.  The king himself was seated upon a massive throne of obsidian and bone, holding a sword in his lap and looking out of the window.  She ran over to him and clambered up his leg, then up his arm to sit on his shoulder.  She began cleaning his ear with her small paws to get his attention, and when she was sure he was focusing on her, began squeaking quickly, detailing Link's exploits.

Gannondorf listened patiently until she was done, nodding occasionally.  "Yes.  That's good.  He'll be here when?  That soon?  I'm impressed.  Thank you, Isis.  I will have something special sent down to you for your work."

Isis squeaked in approval, but did not immediately leave—instead, she stuck her nose into his ear, clutching his lobe with her small paws.  After a second or so, she began biting one of his small emerald earrings, seemingly in an attempt to pull it out.  He grabbed her in one hand and dropped her on the floor.

When she looked up, hoping to clamber back up his leg, he pointed to the door, saying, "You stole at least three pairs of my other earrings!  If you want emeralds so bad you should ask.  Now go!  Find Link again.  I will borrow your eyes when you have."

She let out a squeak of annoyance at not being able to leave with his jewelry, but did as she was told.

Isis came from out of the catacombs to see three other rats clustered around the entrance of the tunnel.  In the room beyond, Link was doing battle with two Iron Knuckles at once, and he seemed to be doing badly.  Isis laid her head upon the backs of two of the rats in front of her, letting her see.

She would be disappointed if he failed; the rats in front of her would be disappointed if he did not.  She did not like the flesh of men, though some rats she presided over did.  It was for that reason that Gannondorf had laid a spell on the castle, preventing the rats from eating living people; the dead were beyond his power.  So, these three rats were simply waiting for Link to die.

There was a soft click in the back of her mind, and she felt Gannondorf's mind enter her own.  Her vision became somewhat blurry as he borrowed her eyes, and though it made the inside of her skull itch dreadfully, she did not scratch her head.  Another reason Gannondorf used her was that she accepted his presence without much of a fight, whereas many other rats would resent an invasion of their minds.

Immediately, she felt his bitter disappointment.  As long as he borrowed her head he could hide none of his thoughts from her.  She felt his sadness at having to set these monsters before Link; his anger at Zelda's treatment of the hero; his frustration that the Iron Knuckles were proving so much of a challenge for Link.

Foolish complicated humans, she thought, grateful she was not one.

Finally, with a sweeping swing of his sword, both Knuckles fell in pieces at Link's feet.  The rats in front of her craned forward, eager to see if there was anything inside the suits of armor or if they were held together by magic.  (One of the rats squeaked in annoyance that everything in this stupid castle was held together with magic).

Link stood still for a moment, his sword held loosely in his hand.  With a hitching sob, the sword clattered to the floor—Gannondorf's soul cringed at the metallic crash—and Link fell to his knees, burying his face in his bloodied hands.  Though Isis could not tell if he was sobbing in pain or sadness, Gannondorf seemed certain of why he was crying; it involved more emotions than Isis had names for.

She backed up in the tunnel as the rats in front of her grew restless.  They slipped past her, going into three of the innumerable tunnels connecting just that room to the catacombs.  At the Thief King's urging, she began to run through a fourth, running up into the next room Link would enter.  When she had come to that room, she allowed herself to sit down on her haunches and look up.  For some unclear reason, Gannondorf's youngest sister, Danäte—who had built this castle by herself—had made the room above this supported by a central, climbable pylon.  Pots littered the place, all filled with arrows or, for some strange reason, money.  Here, Isis and Gannondorf waited for Link's arrival. 

Isis had waited long enough for her to consider going back to check on Link when the door opened, and he walked through.  His eyes and nose were splotchy from his tears and marred by blood, but he carried himself like a hero, with his face set in a determined frown.

The itch inside her skull subsided, and her vision sharpened as Gannondorf withdrew from her mind.

Still seated in his throne, Gannondorf's eyes closed as his soul acclimated to his body.  He let out a long breath, resisting the urge to climb up something.  For the short time he had traveled with Isis, his soul had taken her shape, and still insisted that he was a rat instead of a man.

Gradually, the rattish traits of his soul faded into human characteristics, leaving his fingers feeling longer and without claws, his body feeling free of fur and tail.  He stood up and swung his sword with both hands before sheathing it, regaining his human balance.  With that done, his thoughts turned inward.

He mourned deeply for Link.  After all this, he truly doubted that the beautiful hero would come to his side, much less be his lover.  Why would anyone subject themselves to such anguish in the name of love for their enemy?  

But, then, love was very strange.

Far below him, he could hear muted crashes as his pottery was thrown against a wall.  Did they seem to be thrown with less force than would be usually used, or was that merely his imagination?

At strategic points around the room, the shine of far too many black eyes, like beads of hematite, informed him everything he did would be told to every rodent in the castle.  He did not find this especially annoying.  He began to pace back and forth, ever aware of those intelligent, analyzing eyes.

He turned to look out the window just as the door to his throne room slid open.  

"King Gannondorf," Link said coldly.

"Link," Gannondorf replied.  "I see you have found your way past my guards."

"I have."

A deep silence settled between them, a silence filled with daggers and razor-sharp ice.  Gannondorf could feel Link glaring angrily at him though his back was still turned, just as he could feel the eyes of dozens of rats seeming to bore through his flesh.

He turned around, resisting the need to place a hand on his sword.  "Why have you come here?"

"Why do you ask such a question?" Link said acridly.  "I come for your head, to purge Hyrule of the terrible darkness you have caused to befall it.  For the love of my homeland, my friends and my Queen, you shall fall this day!"

"Is that why?" Gannondorf said softly.  "Do you not know that your quest is a fool's errand?  I would sorely regret killing you."  He began walking towards Link slowly, his hands held open with the palms up.

Link did not move, but an angered sneer came over his face.  "Don't take another step.  I will kill you this day, whether you would regret fighting me or not."

Gannondorf sighed, shaking his head, and let his hand fall to the hilt of his sword.  "Will you at least tell me why you fight?  Why would you fight for a people who hate you, a land that is not your home, a princess who will discard you when you have outlived your usefulness?"

"What does it matter to you?" Link said.  "Does it matter why I fight?"

"Sometimes it does."  With a flickering motion of his hand, a white flame appeared in Gannondorf's unoccupied palm.  "White magic works best when used for a pure reason, especially if the mage casting it feels no doubt about his purpose.  I have heard that the Light Arrows, which you sought to hide from me until the opportune moment, work the same way."

He began walking forward, the flame in his hand curling up into an orb and slowly changing color.  He noted that Link had begun to back away, his eyes wide with fear.  Something about the white magic (which was rapidly turning into black, offensive magic) had shaken him.

The magic began crackling with electricity.  "Are you pure of heart, Link Allgood?" Gannondorf asked coldly.  "Is there no doubt in your mind that your cause is right and just?"

Without waiting for an answer, he threw the orb at Link.  Only sheer dumb luck saved the Hero of Time from having the skin of his face fried off.  Link yanked his sword from his sheath, striking the magic with the tip of the blade as he brought it up to protect himself.  With a shriek, the magic careened back to Gannondorf, who caught it in his palm.

"Very nice," he said.  "Most people miss that."  He set it spinning about his hands and arms, showing off as some boys do with apples.  Finally, he tossed it up in the air, making it shatter into a thousand pieces at his whispered command.  They settled about his body in an aura for a moment before dissolving.

"Very flashy," Link said coldly.  "Do you mean to kill me with party tricks?"

"That's hardly a party trick, and no, I don't.  I intend to kill you with a sword."

He pulled his sword from its sheath.  With some dismay Link noticed that it was a wickedly sharp bastard sword with edges that were serrated instead of smooth.  In short, it was an excellent sword for inflicting jagged, difficult-to-treat wounds.

A second after Link realized there was no sort of decoration anywhere on the sword.  Unlike the Master Sword, on whose blade was inscribed protective runes and Link's prophesized fate, Gannondorf's blade was blank.  The hilt was wrapped in leather that was stained dark from sweat, with no jewels or inlay, and there was no pommel.  Somehow, Gannondorf wielding such a practical sword seemed out of place, especially compared to his lavish armor.

Link was given precious little time before Gannondorf attacked.  The initial strike did not surprise him, though the force of the blows did.  Unsurprisingly, the Gerudo King was much stronger than the Hero of Time, and his attacks showed that he was also more skilled.

How could Zelda even think I would win? Link thought, parrying blows.  I could never equal him, even if I am the Hero of Time and the holder of a Triforce piece.  How could she even pretend I was good enough?

The metal of his shield creaked alarmingly beneath Gannondorf's blows.  Though he wielded his sword with both hands, he left no openings for Link to strike.  It was all Link could do to simply defend himself.  He no longer possessed the unconquerable spirit of the boy who had lost seven years of his life for his country; he no longer cared about what happened to Hyrule.  His soul and heart had been hurt to many times to care.  Soon he would fall, and die at the hands of the man he loved.

Each strike and parry took a bit more of his strength, reducing him slowly to an empty husk.  He could not keep up much longer; at best, he was simply delaying the inevitable.

Yet Gannondorf did not toy with his victim.  He had won, and both warriors knew it, but he did not slow his attacks to give Link the illusion of having a chance, nor did he lord over the defeated Hylian.

He brought his sword once more upon Link's shield.  The metal front split in twain beneath the blade; the wooden backing, cracked from abuse, splintered.  Link dropped the now useless shield and brought the Master Sword up in its place a second too late; Gannondorf cut a deep gash across his chest, slicing open the tunic and spraying blood across both of them.  Link let out an almost subdued cry of pain.

With only the Master Sword to defend him, Link's end quickly drew nearer.  The air of the throne room reverberated with the clash of swords as they traded blows.  Beneath the warriors' feet, Link's blood was ground into the fine carpet.  

Finally, Gannondorf struck the hero with the flat of his blade.  Link collapsed backward, letting the Master Sword fall from his hand.  He made no move to get up or defend himself, resigning himself to death even as Gannondorf brought down his sword for the final strike.

But the blow which Link had wanted to sever his heart went awry and cut instead into his shoulder.  Gannondorf stood still for a moment above the Hylian, his face closed in anger tempered with sadness.  Then he pulled the sword from Link's body, wiped it on his cape and sheathed it.

"Why… did you miss… my heart?" Link asked helplessly, gasping in pain.

"Your life would have been vainly wasted," Gannondorf said softly.  "I am not a god; I do not know your fate.  It is not my place to kill you.  Can you stand?"

"Y-yes…" Link said, pulling himself painfully to his feet.

"Then come with me."


	4. Healing

A/N: I'm not going to continue this.  I've really lost interest in this particular idea.

Flagrant yaoi.  Don't like Link/Gannondorf, don't read.

If you hated chapter three, you are really going to despise this.  ;)

***

_My hopes are so high your kiss might kill me_

_So won't you kill me, so I die happy_

_My heart is yours to fill or burst, to break or bury_

_Or wear as jewelry, whichever you prefer_

Dashboard Confessional, _Hands Down_

***

Gannondorf had commanded, and Link was too weary to refuse.  His sword and weapons had been stripped from him.  He had no assurance he would ever see them again, or, for that matter, that he would ever see another morning.  He did not believe Gannondorf would kill him, especially after passing up a perfect opportunity.  But of course it could just be wistful thinking.

Without once looking back to see if Link was following him, Gannondorf led him up staircase after staircase.  Every once in awhile the stairs branched off into dark corridors.  When they had come to the highest level, Gannondorf took a torch from its bracket and led him down the windowless hallway, lighting other torches set in the wall as he went.  He stopped before a door and set the torch within a niche.  He took of his boots, opening the door for Link, gestured for Link to remove his as well, and set his inside the doorway.

The room itself was surprisingly inviting, especially compared to the rest of the castle.  Light spilled in from innumerable windows.  The walls were the same stucco color of rooms in the Gerudo Compound.  Beside the door was a table on which was set things people would pick up just as they left, and weapons hung on hooks beside it.  Gannondorf hung his sword on one of the empty hooks and walked into his bedchamber with Link at his heels.

An entire wall of the room had been replaced with a stained-glass mosaic depicting a Gerudo woman fighting a huge, misshapen dragon.  Link could not break his gaze away from it until Gannondorf said, "Sit down," jolting Link from his thoughts.  Link sat on the Gerudo King's bed, becoming genuinely worried about what was intended for him.

"That is Intisar, the greatest of my foremothers," Gannondorf said.  "I'll tell you about her sometime, if you like.  Now, take off your tunic and undershirt." He walked into another room and Link could hear the clink of bottles and pots being moved.  Eventually he came back with two bottles, one containing large green-blue leaves, the other containing a whitish powder.

Link did as he was told.  He hissed in pain as his muscles screamed in fresh pain from being moved.  For lack of anything better to do with them, he threw his bloody clothes to the floor.

Gannondorf pulled a leaf out and gave it to Link.  "Chew on this for a minute.  You can swallow it when I'm done.  It will numb your wounds.  This powder will really hurt."

He sat down in front of Link and dipped his fingers into the powder.  He sprinkled it over the deep gash across the hero's chest, and Link hissed in pain—it hurt, though not as badly as receiving the wound had.  It closed over more slowly than would have with a red potion, but it closed completely with barely a trace of the wound.

"Why are you doing this?" Link asked.

"Because I can," Gannondorf replied.

He dusted the other wounds with the powder in a way that seemed careless and wasteful but was not.  He did not again speak or ask questions, and did not seem to care that he was tending his enemy's wounds.

He moved behind Link to dust the other end of the puncture wound in Link's shoulder and wiped his fingertips on the edge of the mattress.  "Did I miss anything?"

"No," Link said.

"Any broken ribs?"

He laid his hands on Link's hips in almost a caress and slid them slowly upward.  Link's breath caught in his throat, and he desperately hoped that Gannondorf had not noticed.

The Dark Lord leaned forward, his forehead touching the back of Link's neck.  "Nothing else?"

"I…"

Whatever he had intended to say was abruptly lost as Gannondorf began gently kissing Link's neck.  It would not occur to Link until much later, but it at some point occurred to him how such a light, casual touch could totally wreck his train of thought.

Gannondorf wrapped his arms around Link's chest and pulled the hero closer to him.  His head rested lightly against Link's.

"I am sorry I hurt you so badly today," he said.  As if making a conscious effort to distract Link, he was running his hands slowly up and down Link's torso.  "I would have spared you the pain, but you gave me little choice."

"I… um…"  Link's powers of communication had apparently decided to give up and go out for tea.  He found he could not speak, though the words clustered together in his head.  He wanted to say that of course he forgave Gannondorf; that he knew he had given the king no other choice, but his tongue seemed not to be under his control.  He desperately wanted to know if Gannondorf had meant anything by his kisses or was just taunting him.

He could not help but notice that they seemed to fit perfectly together.  He suspected that they would be more comfortable if he would loosen up, but, like his tongue, his tensed muscles refused to do his bidding.

Gannondorf leaned down again, kissing and biting the knob of collarbone that ended in Link's shoulders before moving up his neck to his ear.  "I take it that since you haven't tried to kill me, you would like me to continue?" he said, smiling.

"Gods, yes," Link sighed.  Just as the powder had healed his wounds, Gannondorf's touch seemed to be healing his soul, filling the holes in his broken heart.

Gannondorf's tongue was on Link's ear, warm and soft and wonderful.  Link wanted desperately to turn around and kiss him, but that would mean breaking away from Gannondorf, having him stop whatever it was that was making Link melt in his arms.

With a shift that was so gradual Link barely noticed it, Gannondorf had borne him down onto the mattress and flipped him over.  Then his wonderful, talented lips were pressed against Link's and his equally marvelous tongue was slipping into the hero's mouth.

It was comforting, though Gannondorf was still in his full plate armor.  His cape spread over Link, enveloping both of them.  Link could feel the hard curves of Gannondorf's armor; the tiny bejeweled rivets set on his hips dug painlessly into the insides of Link's thighs. The armor was icy, causing gooseflesh to break out over him.  Yet for all of that he would have changed nothing.

_ This is too perfect!  Link thought.  _I don't deserve any of this!  What would Gannondorf want with me, the pathetic man who seeks his destruction?  Why in the name of Din would he care about me?__

But then the lips were gone once again.  Gannondorf propped himself up on his elbows, grinning over his conquest.  His hair fell onto Link's face—long strands of flame that tickled horribly.

"Why?" Link asked softly.  This, too, came out of his mouth before he could stop it.  He instantly regretted asking—he did not want to know, not really, not yet.  Not yet.  Not while everything seemed so perfect that reality was surely no thicker than the wall of a soap-bubble.  With even a single cruel, barb-tipped word, meant in jest or in truth, Link's dream would be shattered forever.

Gannondorf began laughing, his seductive, fascinating laugh that was purely his own.  When the laughter was stilled from his lips, there was still that dazzling smile, dripping with arrogance and the simple joy of being alive.  That smile was what had initially attracted Link to him, what had made life worth living again.

"Why?" he said.  "There is no why, except that I love you and I want you.  That you are my enemy, who has tried to kill me and overthrow my empire, does not matter now, not while I have you beneath me.  Why would I not want a gorgeous, incredible man like you?"

The sheer relief of Gannondorf's words sent a rush of emotions through Link, constricting his breathing and seeming to stop his heart.  He would never have fathomed in any number of lifetimes that a man like Gannondorf, surely hand-crafted to be the epitome of perfection by the goddesses themselves, could ever utter such words to as worthless a creature as him.

"What would you like me to do?" Gannondorf asked.  "I would do anything for you, anything to make you happy.  Just name it and it will be yours."

For a long moment, Link did not dare voice what every hormone in his body was screaming for him to say.  Finally, he said, "Take off your armor."

A triumphant grin spread over Gannondorf's lips as he stood up.  Instantly a wave of cold air engulfed Link.  He watched as Gannondorf undid the complicated clasps and hooks attaching his armor together.  Buckles that from Link's view seemed impossible to loosen came undone without much effort beneath Gannondorf's skilled fingers.  

The armor fell into a clattering heap on the floor, partially over Link's tunic.  Gannondorf stood before him, gloriously naked and radiantly handsome.  Link could not help but marvel at the king's movements—he seemed completely at ease with his body and despite that his mere walk was arousing he was not trying to show off.  But, then, he never really was, though he always seemed to be layer of clothing away from being a sex object.

Gannondorf lay back down with him, once again on top of him.  Their lips interlocked again, though Link could barely pay attention to the kiss.  His hands slipped onto Gannondorf's shoulders, down his arms, over his back, feeling the rock-hard muscle just beneath the surface.  He could feel Gannondorf's heart beating against his chest, much slower than Link's libido-driven pulse.

Gannondorf lifted his face, letting strands of his thick hair fall around Link's.  "Anything else?"

Link slid his hands around Gannondorf's neck, the fingers of one hand sliding through the fiery hair.  "One more thing."


End file.
